15.3.10

{the fireplace}

Well Hello & Happy Monday to you:)Hope your weekend was wonderful.

Today...I decided that we should enjoy dinner in our dining room! A place that rarely sees people.I made a rather non-gourmet meal for myself...but it was delicious:) blackened mahimahi....roasted sweet potatoes {I eat those A LOT}, grilled asparagus and sauteed morel mushrooms!I have never had morel mushrooms and they were super tasty except for all the dirt that I somehow failed to rinse out of them:(Owell....I tried. Oh & did you notice the mustard?!?! {thought I was going to say wine didn't you.....but you know by now....I love my vino any day of the week}I LOVE mustard and would cover the world with it if I could:) I like to dip my sweet potatoes in it...nothin' fancy but oh so yummy!

Alright....now on to more serious business:)

I cannot stand the look of our fireplace for one more moment....These are random photographs from the holidays....but you get the idea!Our living room is a sunken living room with very little natural light.I think the dark poopy brown coloring of the bricks just sucks the life right out of the room....Oh and also really screams 1979!

I am thinking of painting it a nice creamy white.Like this.... The only problem I foresee is that the bookcases on either side of my fireplace are stained wood and I don't intend to paint them. I love, love, love white trim but it would take me years and years to repaint all of the trim and woodwork in our home...

Do you see the bookcases?!?In my dream world I would rip out the entire fireplace and do something creative ...like this..... But don't think my husband would be such a willing participant in tearing out the fireplace. So I just have to make a little change that will make me happier right now! Maybe someday we'll tear it out....but not today:)I just think it's soooooooo ugly right now...And plus....if I do paint it and I don't like the solid color I can always sand it and scuff it up to look like this....

So what do you think!?!?!?

Will a creamy white fireplace look nice against the stained bookcases?!?!?

15 comments:

absolutely paint it white! I think it would look good with the stained wood - kind of like a beachy rustic look. Tie in some linen and other rustic elements like an old oar to make it come across and beachy and weathered :) Good luck!

I'm working on getting my cabinets from nasty 70's dark wood to white and fresh, too!

Oh, I have the same dark fireplace and TONS of dark wood/trim in my house. I would love to paint the fireplace white but hesitate for the same reasons. I bet it would look great though! Have you found any pictures of white fireplaces with darker wood around it???

Thank you for your comment on my blog - I agree we should always strive for growth, I just want to make sure that I am happy and loving life while I am striving : )

The fireplace ll look great in white, I think! And I so love mustard..., I'm using the peppered kind! Because I love it spicey..., and just today I learned that spices burn calories. How is that for a desirable (and so unexpected) side effect.

I recently painted my fireplace white, and although it was very time consuming, it was totally worth it. The room looks so much brighter and more vibrant now. I say go for it! The stained bookcases on the sides will probably make it stand out even more. :)

First, the non gourmet meal looks delish!!! And the fireplace? Go for it!!!! I think it will definitely light things up enough for you to be a bit happier with it. It may even make you do something creative with the shelves other than paint them.

Definitely paint it!! and altho I do agree with Kara ^^, if you really don't wanna paint the shelves.....cover the backs of the shelves with fabric! And maybe just paint the front edges of the shelves. I covered the back of my china hutch with fabric, just stapled in in, and it made alot of difference. Then, when you're tired of it, just pull it out and replace with something else......LIKE PAINT!!! heh.

I've always liked white-painted fireplaces. Are you going to paint the mantle? I agree with facing out the shelf edges or lining the backs with something white. Or something that ties it together. Maybe fill the shelves with chunky white objects. My (rock) fireplace is flanked by built-in cabinet/shelves. They need a face lift, too. I'm trying to think of cheap fixes for things like that around the house that bug me. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Paint the fireplace white and then put white accessories in the dark wood shelves...books covered with white, light-colored beach pictures, a white clock with dark letters...a ship...you get the drift...

Well hello everyone!!!Thanks for your input..I have decided for sure on the white fireplace...and keeping...at least for the moment the wood bookcases.STay tuned because I am doing it this weekend along with all the updated accessories!!!! I will hopefully be able to tell you all about it on Sunday!! CRAZY me:)Good thing I am married to a very patient husband...

We painted our bricks white and LOVE it. I only sanded a bit of it afterwords; not all over, just on one little area (was going to do the whole thing, but liked the look of just a little!) And yes, I think it would look great next to the stained wood! You should just go for it; won't take you too long and it's SO satisfying!!

And can you tell me how long, what temp you roast your sweet potatoes? I have a couple to use this week and that sounds so delicious...

{handcrafted loveliness}

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